About 8 years ago I stumbled upon the comedian Pete Holmes. It was around 11 PM in an Orlando hotel room and I randomly flipped the channel to Comedy Central and found him giving the last bit of a standup set. It was hilarious, and I thought I’d never see it again.
And then I saw the clip on Conan. Pete was the guest and told the story in the video below
Pete starts the story saying he’s a simple man, and that very small things put him in a good mood for a work week, 5 days. When I first heard that, I thought it was a pithy saying. I didn’t think about it any further. I was 18/19 and didn’t really understand the monotony of adult life yet.
But then my 20s came, and I started to think about that throwaway saying – it takes very little to put me in a good, clean, burning mood for 5 to 7 days. So I started to test it out. I would focus on small things that made me happy. It didn’t have to be anything large – maybe someone smiled at me or said something nice, or I was able to help someone or compliment them, and so on.
And it worked. While my days are probably much like yours – filled with tedium and monotony and day-in, day-out drudgery, there are small things that I try to focus on to keep me in a good, solid mood for days at a time. Working as a teacher affords you that because kids can be really funny and say some hilarious things, and they can also do some really kind, thoughtful things (on top of the dumb, idiotic, immature things that 14-year-olds are wont to do). But the thing that I am choosing to focus on is the infectious smile of Miss Katie.
I live in a neighborhood behind a middle school and elementary school. My commute to work usually takes me right past both schools, often when parents are dropping off their kids at the elementary school. At first I tried to leave early to avoid the school zone, but I am not great at waking up early and I started to pass by Miss Katie.
Miss Katie is the crossing guard for this elementary at the front of the school. She has glasses, is missing one hand, and has the most joyous smile I have ever had the pleasure of witnessing. Every day she waves at all the cars passing by with her STOP sign tucked under her arm, beaming brightly no matter what. If it’s freezing cold, she is out there bundled up with a parka and mittens and balaclava and she is grinning from ear to ear. The first two times it made me happy and I would think about this woman and how she was always smiling. And then I started waving back.
Any time I pass by her while she is working, I make a point to wave and smile back at her. This activity, coupled with her aura of happiness, puts me in a good mood throughout the week.
Case in point: I deviated from my normal path because I was running extra late and needed to take a nominally quicker route to work. My day, while fine, did not have that little serotonin boost at 7:55 AM as I drove past Mandarin Oaks Elementary and smiled and waved at Miss Katie.
So today, I was determined to email the principal of this school to let her know I appreciate this crossing guard.
At the time, I didn’t know her name, so I gave as best a description as I could and promptly got an email back that read as follows:
Miss Katie is a ray of sunshine and so wonderful about smiling and waving at everyone! I will be sure to share this with her…in fact today 2/4 was declared school crossing guard appreciation day so it’s super appropriate!!
I wasn’t expecting an email back – in fact, I was actually surprised it came in so quick. But it reinforced two principles in my mind:
- Anything can put you in a good mood if you choose to let it do so
- Letting people know how they affect you is never a bad choice
Will Miss Katie get a raise because of my letter? Probably not. Will her life change immensely? I wouldn’t presume so. But does her bright and beaming personality that I can sense through my windshield in a bleary-eyed fog make my day better? Absolutely. And I’d write a thousand more emails and take a thousand more long ways to work if I could have just a couple more of those experiences in my life.
Miss Katie, if you’re reading this, thank you for always putting me in a good, clean, burning mood for a week at a time.
Nate Livsey 